Procrastination
by LilyTheNinjaGirl
Summary: Thomas Sanders/Sanders Sides. When Thomas starts getting sucked into procrastinating, Virgil seems to be the only side to care. He KNOWS that they need to get this project done! So yet again, he is forced to make a decision and be the bad guy to help Thomas. Will the other sides understand? Or will he be shunned more than ever before? TW: Minor Anxiety Attack.


**A/N: I wrote this several months ago when I was super obsessed with Thomas Sanders' Sanders Sides videos. Just thought I'd share it because there's not enough fanfic for the sides on here. This was written in a short amount of time and barely proof-read lol.**

 **Anyway, this is just what I imagine the details of procrastination in Thomas' brain to be. Also I love Virgil. And angst. Enjoy!**

When Virgil woke up that morning (three hours after falling asleep the previous night, show marathoning has its drawbacks) he could already tell he was in for a hard day of work. Stumbling into the kitchen area, he found Logan reading a book with his feet propped up on the table.

"Yo, weren't you and Thomas gonna work on that project thing that's due next week?" Virgil asked, scratching the back of his neck with his hand. Logan glanced up.

"I don't see why that matter takes precedent. We have plenty of time to complete the task." He went back to reading.

Virgil sighed as he crossed the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal. He took a seat on the counter. "Wasn't it a pretty big project? It involves public speaking. Shouldn't you be preparing as soon as possible? What is Thomas screws it up and embarrasses himself?"

Logan looked back up, adjusting his glasses with one hand. "Get off of the counter, Virgil. You are supposed to sit in chairs. Thomas will be fine. We've prepared harder presentations in less time and done well before. Logically speaking there is no need to worry."

"Um, he will totally fail if you don't start planning right now. Do you realize how famous he is on the internet? If it doesn't go well all it takes is one person filming on their phone to make it go viral! He'll look like an idiot!"

Logan scowled slightly. "Virgil honestly, you need to lighten up a little. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. If you're not there he won't screw it up. Besides, as I stated before, we have waited until the last minute to prepare and gotten optimal results many times before. Looking at the data, there is no need for concern. Can you run along and do something other than bug the rest of us?"

Virgil visibly withered, hurt by the tactless comments. He bit his lip as he considered his options. He had seen this before. Logan (essentially Thomas' brain) had tricked itself into thinking that procrastination was a fruitful art form. They had discussed how this could happen briefly in an earlier video of Thomas'. Usually when Thomas procrastinated Logan tried to fix things, but every once in awhile he went lax.

"Logan you really need to do that project. Please," Virgil said through gritted teeth.

"Didn't you hear me the first time? Please leave me alone," Logan replied, flipping a page. Virgil fled the room, wiping his emotions from his face and shoving them deep down where they would probably come back to haunt him in the form of an anxiety attack later.

This was not good. Thomas _needed_ to start that project soon. If he didn't he would be shamed and embarrassed and everyone would laugh at him and his YouTube views would go down and he wouldn't have enough money to eat and his friends would leave him and-

Virgil clutched the sleeves of his hoodie, stopping his thoughts right there. He had to get Thomas to do that project, no matter what it took. He knew arguing with Logan was useless. Patton was Thomas' heart but he was more emotion that motivation. Roman, Virgil realized. A blast of creativity could jump start Thomas on his was to success.

The anxious trait made his way down the hall until he found the red and gold door to Roman's room. He reached out and knocked quietly. He heard shuffling and then Roman opened the door. He was wearing red sweatpants and a white t-shirt with the Disney logo on it and his hair was a complete mess. "What's up?" he drawled.

"Uh, Thomas has that project he needs to be working on. Wanna go, like, do what you do? Little creative boost?"

"Eh, I'm not really feeling it right now. I was just going to marathon some Disney movies all day. I thought Logan was working on the project with Thomas?"

"He was lulled into the whole 'procrastination actually works' thing again."

Roman rolled his eyes. "I mean, it's worked before. Besides, I hate working with Thomas when Logan isn't actually there to make a plan. It's like chucking ideas at someone who dodges them all. Call me when Logan actually starts working." With that, he shut the door in Virgil's face.

Virgil blinked twice. His panic was starting to rise a little. He walked a few more steps to Patton's door, which was wide open. He stepped inside to see Patton sitting on his bed with a tub of ice cream.

"Oh hey kiddo," Patton greeted, mouth full of ice cream.

"Its nine am! You told me I couldn't eat ice cream before twelve!"

"The rules don't apply to me, I'm the dad."

"That doesn't even make sense. And you're not our dad!" Virgil groaned. "Never mind. I need your help. Thomas has a project due and Logan is accepting procrastination and Roman 'isn't feeling it' and I don't want Thomas to make a fool out of himself in front of all those important people and then he won't get this partnership and arghhhhhh!"

Patton was standing immediately, wrapping his arm around Virgil who sank into the embrace. "I'm sorry kiddo. I want to help but I don't really know how. I know I should want to do this project but my heart isn't in it and I feel really guilty and that just makes me feel too bad to work." Patton flopped back onto the bed and scooped up another spoonful of Rocky Road.

Virgil could already feel the migraine in the very back of his mind, ready to come cripple him. None of the other sides wanted to do anything and he was sure that wouldn't change anytime soon. Now it was time for Virgil to be the bad guy. To channel the deep mangled fear that was bubbling inside his chest, to be _Anxiety_ , to use a dark persona to force the others to do anything at all so that Thomas didn't fail something.

He grabbed Patton's tub of ice cream, which was met with a small shout of protest. He used his other hand to grab Patton's arm and lead the cardigan-clad side to the kitchen, where Logan was still sitting and reading. "ROMAN!" he yelled, snapping his fingers. Roman appeared out of thin air instead of his usual rising up. He looked shocked and quite upset.

"What the heckety heck? You can't just _do_ that! I am not fit for public consumption!"

"Aw we love you even with messy hair, don't we Logan?" Patton cooed, jumping at Roman for a hug.

"Can you two stop being so extra? Can we not have a moment of peace in this household?" Logan shoved a bookmark in his book and slammed it down on the table.

"Listen, Thomas NEEDS to start that project and all of you are going to HELP him do it!" Virgil said angrily, lowering his voice and making it more gravelly and threatening than usual. He hated shouting and he never raised his voice even when desperate.

"I really don't see what the big deal is, Anxiety!" Roman exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair. "We have like a full seven days to do this. We can start tomorrow. Or the day after that. It'll be fine. You need to stop making such a big deal out of everything!"

"Magnifying," Logan interrupted. "One of Virgil's personal favorite cognitive distortions."

"I am not-UGH, guys this is a huge deal. We have to research, write a script, put together a powerpoint, make notecards, and practice the speech! We have to be ready to answer any questions the company board members ask us! We can't just throw this all together the night before! We should have started a week ago!"

Virgil could feel himself growing more and more anxious. His breathing hitched and he felt slightly nauseous. Tears pricked at his eyes but he forced them down. "Come on! We can't screw this up! He won't be able to get the funding he needs to take the next step with his videos. And he'll look like an idiot."

"I never thought I would say this, but there may be someone even more over-dramatic than Roman. That person is you, Virgil. I've told you before, all the data shows we can accomplish this task closer to the due date without it being a complete disaster. Stop being so difficult." Logan threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Honestly, you're so over-bearing. Can you give Thomas a break? One must focus on oneself in order to maintain a good body and a rested mind for brainstorming," Roman added.

"He's been resting all week!" Virgil insisted. "That's just a fabricated excuse that you're using to make yourself feel better about procrastinating. You don't want to bruise your own ego by admitting that this unhealthy habit is wrong."

"Well now you're getting defensive because you know you're always wrong!" Roman argued back, raising his voice.

"Come on champ, we shouldn't fight about this. Virgil's been right about things before. We should probably start working or whatever. Ooh, is there some leftover garlic bread from last night?"

"Patton!" Virgil exclaimed as the fatherly trait started digging through the fridge.

"Forget it Anxiety, I will not be drawing up a plan yet. I was having a pleasant time enjoying my literature and you had to come along and ruin it, as always. I assure you I will be back in plenty of time for Thomas to get things done. Farewell." Logan stood and left the kitchen.

"If I go to Thomas with ideas now he'll just ponder them and forget them because he won't actually write them down and formulate a plan without Logan! This entire argument is useless, just like you! Give it up and leave us alone!" Roman also stood, exiting much more dramatically than Logan.

Virgil sucked in a shaky breath. His nerves felt like they were on fire and the thoughts in his brain were scrambled and foggy. "Patton, please help?"

Suddenly Patton started crying. "I just don't want any of my kids to figgghhhht," he wailed. He grabbed the ice cream container and made his way to the couch, flopping down on it. "Why cant we get along and do anything? I feel so saaaaaad."

Virgil couldn't take it anymore. He fled to his room, slamming the door behind him even though Logan always complained about the noise. He let himself slowly sit on his bed before he collapsed. " _Breathe breathe breathe breathe you gotta breath Virgil come on come on breathe…_

 _stop making such a big deal out of everything_

 _stop being so difficult_

 _honestly, you're so over-bearing_

 _you know you're always wrong_

 _you had to come along and ruin it, as always_

 _this entire argument is useless, just like you_

 _I can't I can't I can't breathe oh my gosh I can't breathe_."

His thoughts were too much to handle. The silence seemed to be screaming at him and he felt so empty yet so full of emotions. Too many to handle, they were squeezing his lungs, that were blocking his throat, they put fire in his veins and nausea in his stomach. He felt as if someone had a hand over his mouth, stopping him from yelling. Stopping him from breathing.

" _I'm so useless I can't even breathe. Everything hurts why does it hurt please make it stop stop stop I don't want to hurt anymore_."

He couldn't remember how long it took him to calm down. How long it took him to remember how to breathe. How long it took him to wallow in the negative thoughts until there was nothing about himself left to hate and the acceptance of his uselessness came.

He fell asleep.

########

*After Virgil left the kitchen*

Thomas was in the middle of playing a video when the feeling came. It started with light nausea and the off-putting feeling of something being terribly, terribly wrong. He tried to focus on mashing the buttons on his controller but stopped when the bad feelings began to overwhelm him. He stood and shakily made his way over to the kitchen and drank a glass of water.

 _"You're procrastinating,"_ the tiny voice in his mind whispered.

"I know, but I have plenty of time to get it done," Thomas responded out loud in an attempt to get rid of the suffocating silence.

 _"No you DON'T! If you don't start this project now you will fail! You'll embarrass yourself and you won't get that partnership! You don't have enough money to take your videos in the direction you want to take the without it! Your views will go down, your friends will think you are pathetic!"_

Thomas clamped his hands on his head and breathed deeply. "Stop it. I know I should do this project but I just don't feel like it…" he whimpered. "I feel so guilty that I don't want to do anything but I still don't want to do it and I don't know why."

 _"Useless._

 _Pathetic._

 _A failure."_

"ALRIGHT!" Thomas shouted. "I'll do it!" His breathing was coming in quick gasps. He quickly summoned Roman and Logan. "G-guys we need to start… we need to start on the project now… start now…" he gasped.

"Are you alright Thomas?" Roman asked, putting his arm on the boy's shoulder. Thomas nodded and took a few minutes to calm himself as Logan walked him through the breathing technique they frequently used.

"I am going to be having a few harsh words with Virgil," Logan growled, standing up.

"No! Guys, we have to start this project! C'mon!" Thomas grabbed some poster board, markers, and his laptop. Roman and Logan sighed and headed over, ready to start what was going to be a LOT of work.

#####

*six days later*

"Done," Thomas stated in a monotone voice. He slammed his laptop shut. His powerpoint was created, he had written his speech and put it onto notecards before practicing it enough that he could do it without glancing as the notecards too much. His living room was an absolute mess, paper and notecards and pens thrown everywhere. Patton rose up and began to tidy the living room as Roman led Thomas to bed. He then returned to the living room.

"Virgil was indeed correct, had we started this any later we would not have finished in time," Logan realized. "I was very rude to him earlier…. I do believe an apology is in order."

"But he made Thomas have a panic attack!" Roman protested.

"But if he hadn't than you guys would never have started working!" Patton argued.

Roman shoved his bangs off of his forehead. "I guess… yeah….."

"Speaking of Virgil, have any of you seen him this week?" Logan inquired.

"I've been here working with you the whole time," Roman responded while shrugging.

Patton sighed. "He's been in his room all week. I've been trying to coax him out but nothing has worked so far. I think you guys really hurt him with your rude comments."

"Pshh, we weren't _that_ rude," Roman insisted with a swish of his hand. He paused to think about it. "On second thought we kinda were." His shoulders drooped a bit.

"Kind of," Logan corrected. Roman shot him a look.

"I'm going to apologize to Virgil." He struck a dramatic pose and sunk down. Logan followed him. They appeared in the Common Room and walked down the hallway to where Virgil's black door was. Roman knocked on it a few times. No response. He knocked a few more.

"Go away Patton."

Virgil's voice sounded muffled, as if he was under a bunch of blankets. "it is not Patton. It is Logan."

"And Roman!"

"And Roman. We have come to offer you an apology."

More silence. Logan and Roman looked at each other.

"Virgil, I'm really sorry that I brushed off your concern about Thomas' presentation. You were right. If we had started any later we wouldn't have gotten anything done. I was being lazy and I said very mean things to you. That wasn't right. If we didn't have you to save us it would have ended very badly," Roman said gently.

They heard shuffling and the click of a door being unlocked. The black door opened just a crack and Virgil peered through. "You're not mad that Thomas had a panic attack?"

"I am not at all mad, Virgil," Logan told him. "Nothing else was getting through. You tried everything you could and then used the panic attack as a last resort. I was being naïve and brainwashed. I can't believe that I fell for the idea that procrastination is a good thing again. Perhaps I am not really that intelligent…. Anyway, I offer my most sincere apologies to you. The things I said were all falsehoods."

Virgil sucked in a deep breath. "It's okay Logan, we all make mistakes. I make the most out of everyone…" he muttered.

"Oh nonsense!" Roman exclaimed. "You don't make any more mistakes than the rest of us. Why, you just saved all of us and Thomas from ruin! You are the hero today, Virgil."

"Really?" Hopeful dark brown eyes peeked out from underneath the fading purple bangs.

"Indubitably. Will you come out of your room now?"

Virgil let out the breath he had been holding. He opened the door a little wider and stepped forward a bit. His clothes looked more rumpled than usual, like he had slept in them. He also looked exhausted. Roman spread his arms wide and Virgil let the creative trait embrace him tightly, melting into Roman's warmth and comfort.

"Virgil how much have you eaten in the past few days?" Logan asked suddenly. He knew about Virgil's tendency to forget to eat and sleep when he was feeling bad.

Virgil didn't respond, he just buried his face in Roman's shoulder. Roman reached down and put his arm underneath Virgil's knees, lifting him into a bridal style carry position. "C'mon, you took care of us so now we'll take care of you."

"I will make you a delicious Crofter's sandwich," Logan added, following them down the hall.

"And I'll make cookies!" Patton said, bouncing down the hall. "I'm so proud of all of you!"

The four traits entered the kitchen together. All was well.


End file.
